REYNOSA, Mexico — At the Reynosa-Hidalgo International Bridge, very few people cross into Mexico, and even fewer stop by to shop at the duty-free stores in the adjacent commercial plaza.
In one of these, we met Cecilia, an employee who is now afraid of the store going out of business and of losing the job she barely found after months of being unemployed.
“I am stressed out. There’s been several days we have nobody for the whole day,” she said as she entered some merchandise in the computer at the completely empty store.
In fact, on the day we visited, the store didn't see a single customer
“This is a normal day. The kind we’ve had lately with nobody coming,” Cecilia said, visibly worried.
Cecilia’s boss, the owner, who asked us not to publish his name, said he opened hid duty-free shop on a hunch, betting on the border reopening to tourists, as it was originally planned in May. His hope was to benefit from what has traditionally been a very profitable business at the border. That did not happen.
The closure was extended again, now until July 21. Cecilia said the owner promised them he was prepared for it.
“We haven't even been open two months. I guess that’s why we haven’t felt the difference yet. We know the business is not gonna start growing soon," said Cecilia.
Some of the other duty-free shops couldn’t hold on for the more-than-a-year hiatus in which the border has been closed. Several spaces are for rent and others still have merchandise inside gathering dust. There’s no one there to operate them or sell goods. These stores depend on Mexicans coming across to shop more than any business, with 60-70% of their sales made by Mexican tourists.
It’s easy to see why. These stores not only offer lower prices on items, but people can buy more than the permitted amount and at a price that would generate a hefty import tariff.
The limit in many cases is one liter of alcohol and $800 in merchandise.
The few who can come to shop are attracted by the even lower prices as a result of low demand, like Ramon Cordoba, who came to buy two bottles of liquor.
“I don’t come that often, only when there’s not a lot of traffic. Because businesses are closing, it's cheaper,” said Cordoba, an American citizen living in Mexico.
Cecilia said the hope is that the closure won’t be extended again, but she is also realistic about her expectations.
“They’re gonna keep prolonging it. They’ve already wasted all this time pushing the date back. Something needs to be done now. They must find another way of letting more people come," she said.
And this time, Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard has issued an official demand to his American counterpart to fully allow the reopening of the border.